Storage Options

[davery]

My spider currently resides in the garage and my wife's SUV is stuck on the driveway. I would like to find another place to store the spider during the Ohio winter. Has anyone used a rented storage space for a spider? Most have a 5 x 15, but that is about 5-6" too narrow. I decided against the portable garage idea, as I would worry about the snow load and it collapsing. Ideas?

[Slartibartfaster]

I feel your pain Don. I don't have experience with storage units but I do have 2 spiders to store in the winter...one in a friend's spare garage while the other has booted my SUV out in the cold in Cincinnati to take it's space. I thought I'd work on it over the winter but man it's cold out there right now!

My solution for the suv was to add a remote starter so I could at least warm it up before braving the misery that is Ohio in the winter. Makes a big difference to get into a warm vehicle... maybe this would do for your wife?

[RRoller123]

I used a 10 by 20 storage unit for the first couple of years. It allowed enough room to walk around the car, and to store some other stuff as well. But there is no electrical power usually, and they don't allow you to work on the car. It fit the needs at the time though it is a little pricey, well over a hundred a month here in MA. I charge 100 a month for indoor storage here, and a reasonable amount of access to do some minor work on the car is ok, we just have to respect the property of the other owners. Next year it will be heated, as well. I have a lot of outdoor space available too.

p.s. Got my MA HIC license renewed after a 6 year hiatus, and my old tablesaw was powered up over the weekend. Things are slowly moving along to getting back into business!

[aj81spider]

In my area Craigslist has a lot of listings for garage space available in the fall, so you'd be a little late around here. Most people who rent garage storage already have their cars up - so little sense in advertising now.

A little more expensive option would be a dedicated car storage facility. There are a couple in this area - not sure about around you. Google will help with that. At this point in the winter they are probably more likely to have a space or two open.

[Jimb]

You can buy two styles of portable storage canopies; peaked roof or rounded. The peaked roof gives much more space inside in a 10' x 20' because the sides are vertical but because the roof shape is a gentle slope snow will accumulate. Easily addressed by simply pushing up on the roof from inside with a broom.
However, the rounded top units won't have much snow build up because there's no flat surfaces. The negative though is there's less space to move around inside because the sides slope in.
They're both pretty cheap and if you find one with a more heavy duty fabric they can last for several years.
Jim

[baltobernie]

Your local Cars & Coffee crowd probably knows of some storage spots available, usually offered by fellow gearheads.

And don't overlook the widow down the street. I have several friends that have bartered garage space for errands and light maintenance.

[RRoller123]

+1. Cars and Coffee is how I found my storage a year ago. A written message with phone number that a fellow had placed on his windshield. I plan to do that myself this coming year, to help rent out my extra space for the Winter. Works really well. He had a barn with 2 levels and rented out all 10 spaces that way.